Soft Law
by AnniBananni
Summary: Law hates being accused of being soft, but it won't stop him from being soft with Luffy. Lawlu, a 5 1 story. Oneshot


1.

Law was ignoring the strawhats from his place on the deck of their ship. He had a book on historical medicinal practices from the West Blue open in his lap. It was written in an older version of Western than he was used to, but it was clear in meaning.

Luffy ran over and leaned into him. "What are you doing?" He asked loudly in Law's ear.

"Reading," Law responded.

"Is it interesting?"

"It's about the historical practice of medicine," Law said, "I find it fascinating."

"Blegh," Luffy stuck his tongue out, "Boring."

"If you want entertainment, talk to Bone-ya," Law said.

"But I want to hang out with Torao," Luffy whined.

Law shifted over on the deck and pulled Luffy to sit down. "Then sit down."

Luffy sat down and leaned his weight onto Law in such a way that had made Robin and Franky giggle at him in the past. Law did nothing to move him. He hummed a tune from Flevance that he only barely remembered. Luffy softly snored into his shoulder before he finished the song.

2.

Luffy didn't often stay up overly late, but sometimes he couldn't sleep without seeing Ace dead in his arms. Some nights, he remembered being told Sabo was dead. Some nights, he combined Ace's death with his nakama and he would sit in his hammock and listen to his sleeping crewmembers. Sometimes he went to sit with Sunny.

Law was a chronic insomniac, so Luffy wasn't surprised to see him lurking on the deck. He just stood silently beside him at the rail and let him decide if he wanted to talk.

"Couldn't sleep?" Law asked.

"Nightmares," Luffy replied. He didn't have to be strong for Law.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Law asked, but he looked uncomfortable.

"Do you want to listen?" Luffy asked.

"Only if you want to tell me," Law said, and he looked marginally more comfortable.

"Sometimes," Luffy said, "The fire takes more than just Ace."

"Oh," Law said.

"I wanted to hate fire for a long time," Luffy said, his hair brushed back by the ocean breeze, "But Ace was fire, and Sabo is fire; I can't hate my brothers."

"I lost my sister in fire," Law said, after the silence stretched too long, "I thought I could protect her."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Luffy asked.

"Not tonight," Law said, "Maybe someday."

The silence was sombre, but not awkward.

3.

The next time, Luffy hadn't even gotten up from his place with Sunny to go to bed despite it being past midnight. Law came over and silently asked permission to sit. Luffy patted the figurehead in invitation.

"Do you want to know my past?" Law asked.

"Not really," Luffy said, "But I'll listen if you want to tell me."

"You're not curious?" Law asked.

"It's not important," Luffy said, "Unless you want me to know."

"I want to tell you about Cora-san, but I think I have to start from the beginning to do so properly," Law said.

Luffy tilted his head in a silent acknowledgement.

"I used to be in Doflamingo's crew," Law started, "I was angry and sick and wanted to destroy as much as possible before I died."

Law found himself talking until the sun rose. Sanji came out of the cabin for some fresh air before he started on breakfast and paused at the sight of both of them before turning and heading straight for the kitchen.

4.

Law wasn't sure what he expected when he told Luffy about Cora-san, but it wasn't absolutely nothing changing. He appreciated it, though.

They were docked at a forested island and Luffy had called for a party. It was oddly calming despite the ruckus the strawhats made. Luffy ran around the fire and skidded to a stop in front of Law.

"Dance with me, Torao!" He demanded.

"No," Law said and turned a page in his book. He wasn't actually reading it, but he wouldn't admit that.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Luffy whined.

"Ask somebody else," Law said.

"I wanna dance with you, though," Luffy said.

"Why?" Law asked.

Luffy paused. "I like Torao," he decided.

"Is that to say you don't like your crew?" Law asked blandly.

"No!" Luffy said immediately, "But it's different. Please, Torao?"

"I'm not a fan of dancing," Law said slowly.

"Not any kind of dancing?" Luffy asked, "It doesn't have to look nice, it just should be fun."

"Can I just watch?" Law asked, "I'll put my book away."

"Fine, but you can join anytime," Luffy said and spun Chopper around by the fire. Law noted that despite the wild motion, Luffy was careful to keep them both out of the fire.

5.

Later, on the ship, after the rest of the crew went to bed, Law practiced the ballroom dance he learned from his parents. It was odd without a partner, but Law supposed that was okay, as long as he had fun. He knew Robin would give him knowing looks for about a week, but she wouldn't tell anybody.

Luffy came out onto the deck after a few minutes and watched silently for a bit. "Will you teach me that?" He asked after Law paused for a moment.

"Only if you tell me what you meant when you said you liked me," Law replied, "You said it was different than with your crew."

"I don't know," Luffy said, "It's just different."

Law pulled Luffy over and started gently pulling him to do the steps of the dance. "Different how?"

"I keep thinking about what Makino said about liking girls, but you're not a girl, and I don't want to have sex with you," Luffy said bluntly.

"You're… Romantically attracted to me?" Law asked, surprised.

"I guess so," Luffy said, and Law almost stepped on his foot.

Instead, he tripped and almost dragged both of them to the floor. Luffy caught him and Law knew if anybody else saw the scene, they would assume things. He didn't actually mind.

"Is that bad?" Luffy asked.

"No," Law said, "Just unexpected."

"Can I kiss you?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah," Law said about half of an octave higher than his normal voice.

+1.

Law left with his own crew after Wano, and Luffy expected it, but still felt sad watching him go.

They met up on another forested island a couple months later, and Luffy immediately called for a party. His crew, of course, expected it and set it up in a matter of minutes. Law watched impassively and sent his crew to help wherever they were needed.

Law sat far enough away from the fire to be in the dim light. He wasn't surprised to hear Sanji shouting at Luffy, but he was surprised when Luffy ran over and handed him a plate of Onigiri and fish.

He took it in stride while many of the strawhats began freaking out about the end of the world. Luffy grinned at him and kissed his cheek, causing the hearts to join the freaking out, except Bepo and Jean Bart.

"Hey, Torao? Do you want to dance?" Luffy asked.

"Tell Bone-ya to play a slower song, then," Law said, and Luffy ran up to Brook to give him his instructions. Law set down his plate and drink and got up. "Shall we?" He asked and the music changed perfectly in time with the beginning of the dance.

(AN) I live. I plan on working on world-breaker sometime soon, but I just haven't been motivated and lost track of what my plan was.


End file.
